City Council approves 2022 property tax plan

Prince Albert City Council gave third and final reading to the City’s property tax bylaws last night at a special City Council meeting. The bylaws finalize the City’s tax plan for 2022 which includes a 1.8% mill rate increase for 2022 along with a $40 base tax for residential properties, $20 base tax per apartment in multi-residential properties and a tiered base tax for commercial properties.

This combination of tax tools including the mill rate and base tax will raise the $1.8 million needed to fund 2022 priorities this year. This amount was down from $4.467 million which was originally proposed by Administration heading into budget deliberations.

When looking at tax tools available, a base tax was chosen to address Prince Albert’s unique housing market. In Prince Albert, middle valued homes dropped in value causing fewer properties to carry a larger portion of the tax load. The shift occurred in the 2021 revaluation where some homes experienced as much as 30% increases in their property taxes.

An increase in the mill rate, the traditional tax tool option for cities, would have applied a much greater increase on the higher valued properties. A base tax is one tool cities use to reduce the difference in property taxes between the lower and higher valued homes.

“By going with a base tax we will move toward addressing the shift in the market and the dramatic impacts this had on higher valued homes in Prince Albert,” said Mayor Greg Dionne. “Higher valued properties will still pay a higher proportion of taxes this year, but not to the same extent as a mill rate increase alone.”

Property owners will also notice the use of special taxes on their tax bills this year. Snow management, roadways and police base taxes have been renamed as special taxes to align better with legislation. These existing taxes are used to raise funds for a specific purpose.

Previously the snow management and future infrastructure base tax, the snow management special tax is now dedicated specifically to raise revenues to cover snow management operation expenses. As a dedicated special tax it will provide a clearer picture of funds allocated to snow management costs and will be revisited annually to determine if adjustments are required.

There is also a proposed increase to the minimum tax from $672 to $772 which ensures all properties pay at least this amount to contribute to funding City services. The Civic Facilities Levy and Destination Marketing levy (applied to hotels) will remain unchanged. The Business Improvement District Levy will decrease to 6.4%. This levy was established in 2005 and applies only the Central Business District to fund activities of the association. This levy will also be renamed as a special tax this year. The Library Levy will increase by 3.75% from 0.640 to 0.664 to fund library priorities for 2022.

The additional funds generated will be used to pay for notable projects like:

• Carlton Club Asphalt Surfacing for basketball and pickleball courts
  $130,000
• James Isbister Portable Skateboard park and basketball Court Replacement
  $100,000 + $200,000 from the Malcolm Jenkins Family Foundation
• Crescent Acres Spray Park
  $120,000 + $200,000 from the Malcolm Jenkins Family Foundation

• Phase 1 Developments at Little Red River Park to expand parking
  $146,000

• Rotary Adventure Park at Little Red
  $280,000 + $400,000 Malcom Jenkins Family Foundation + $670,000 Rotary Club

• Information Technology Infrastructure
  $500,000

Property owners can watch for tax notices delivered by mail in May. To learn more about 2022 property taxes visit the City website https://www.citypa.ca/en/living-in-our-community/tax-rates.aspx or view the report online https://eagenda.ca:5001/IIP/princealbert/file/getfile/38183

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For media inquires, please contact:

Mayor Greg Dionne
(306) 953-4300